There’s no keeping Pravin Gordhan down

Those close to former president Jacob Zuma seem to be gaining in confidence following a long period of lying low within the ANC after their defeat by Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies at the party’s elective conference last year.

The latest sign of their determination to fight back has been the launch of another campaign against Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.

Protesters calling for his dismissal came all the way up from KwaZulu-Natal (Zuma’s political heartland) to demand his dismissal.

The well-organised group claimed Gordhan was being used by Ramaphosa to settle political scores.

The protest came on the heels of recent remarks from a number of senior people in state-owned enterprises, accusing Gordhan of a witch-hunt in the parastatals.

The reality is that Gordhan is cleaning up the mess from the Zuma years and that, clearly, scares some of those who have skeletons in the tender closet.

It is also interesting that the focus is on Gordhan, with the implication that he is also an Indian racist.

The minister, in his normal taciturn way, said he was not prepared to talk about “these people”.

He knows he has a tough job to do and needs to get on with it. Go for it, minister.

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